Creativity, Activity & Service
(Peterson2003)
“…if you believe in something, you must not just think or talk or write, but must act.”
Welcome to the CAS Program at the International School Innsbruck.
As outlined in the CAS Subject Brief, after completing the requirements of the CAS program, you should be able to demonstrate:
• Self-confidence
• Attitudes and values which respect human dignity, and which transcend barriers of race, class, religion, gender and politics
• An awareness of humanitarian and environmental issues, and the development of an ethical position on them from a local, national and international perspective
• A willingness to interact meaningfully with others
• A sense of responsibility towards all members of the local, national and global communities, and a commitment to be of value to those communities
• Personal qualities of curiosity, honesty and self-criticism
• An ability to reflect on and to learn from experiences
• A spirit of discovery, commitment, initiative, determination and perseverance
• The ability to meet challenges and an awareness of personal limitations
• Practical skills that can be used in community engagement and in a future career.
Please take the time to read through the student handbook to fully understand the learning outcomes and expectations of the program at our school. Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me using the email s.dea@tsn.at
CAS is organized around the three strands of creativity, activity and service defined as follows:
Creativity
exploring and extending ideas leading to an original or interpretive product or performance
I feel creative! I enjoy the arts, reading or writing. I like to make things
Activityphysical exertion contributing to a healthy lifestyle
Being active is most important to me. I love playing sports or being challenged physically
Service collaborative and reciprocal engagement with the community in response to an authentic need
Helping people makes my day. Supporting my friends, colleagues or strangers gives me a sense of purpose.
Exploring and extending ideas leading to an original or interpretative product or performance.
• This aspect of CAS is designed for you to explore original thinking and expression.
• This means it covers a wide range of arts and activities outside our normal curriculum, that demonstrate creative thinking in the design and carrying out of projects.
• This could involve any of the Fine and Performing Arts, but could also include experiences that involve creative thinking such as organising an event or competition or designing lessons.
• Individual commitment to a continued participation in an activity will only be accepted as a CAS experience if it fulfils the purpose of CAS, which is to provide a challenge, that some aspect of the participation is new to you, that goals are set and you can reflect on your progress.
• Therefore, if you are continuing to be involved in learning the piano for instance, in order for it to be acceptable for CAS, you would need to set yourself a challenge such as taking a Piano Exam, performing in a concert for a larger audience or composing a piece of music for the first time.
Physical exertion contributing to a healthy lifestyle.
• to promote lifelong healthy habits related to physical well-being. These may include team or individual sports, aerobic exercises, dance, outdoor recreation or fitness training.
• commit to participating on a regular basis, in a way that is challenging and provides genuine benefit.
• to provide a challenge, that some aspect of the participation is new to you, that goals are set and you can reflect on your progress.
Therefore:
• if you are continuing to be involved in the soccer team for instance, in order for it to be acceptable for CAS, you would need to set yourself a challenge such as setting yourself a target for a particular event, or taking on a new role in the team.
Collaborative and reciprocal engagement with the community in response to an authentic need.
• make a meaningful contribution to our community and society. The community may be the school, the local areas, or it may exist on national and international levels, such as undertaking a project in a country with a need or in your home country.
• This is normally the strand that is the most transformative for students. There is also a large variety of opportunities to be involved in at ISI, and you are also welcomed to plan some new service experience as long as the need can be justified.
Collaborative and reciprocal engagement with the community in response to an authentic need.
Therearefourtypesofserviceaction…. (and it is recommended that you cover each of these four types at least once…) You have to indicate which type of service your activity is.
1. Direct service: This is where you interact directly with other people, the environment or animals. This may include experiences such as volunteering at a soup kitchen or visiting an animal shelter (4 Paws).
2. Indirect service: While you may not interact with the recipients of your service directly, you have verified that your actions will benefit the community or the environment. This may include developing a website for an NGO, organising a fundraising concert for an NGO, or joining an environmental cause such as Earth Hour.
Collaborative and reciprocal engagement with the community in response to an authentic need.
3. Advocacy: This is where you speak up for a cause or concern to promote action on an issue of public importance. This may involve joining an “Awareness Club” and developing an awareness campaign, initiating a campaign against bullying or creating a video about animal abuse.
4. Research: This is where you focus on a particular issue of public interest, collect information from a variety of sources, then synthesize it to produce material that can be used to influence change in practice or policy. This may include collecting data on the use of energy at ISI, or produce a report on the effectiveness of service programs at ISI.
Collaborative and reciprocal engagement with the community in response to an authentic need.
There are also different approaches to Service including:
• Ongoing service: where you commit to a service project that has an action plan that is implemented over time.
• School-based service: where you are benefiting other students in the school, such as offering peer tutoring.
• Community -based service: where you participate in a community -based service opportunity.
• Immediate need service: where you respond to needs following a disaster (e.g. floods)
• Fundraising: where you raise money for a participate project or action (e.g. Caritas)
• International service: where you participate in a service project internationally, which may include a project in your home country or perhaps one you will visit.
• Service arising from curriculum: perhaps you studied something in Biology, or Geography and you wish to follow this up with a project in our local area.
1. CAS experiences
2. 1 project (at least for one month) has to be completed
3. the CAS stages have to be used for the project
4. all three strands have to be used at least once
5. Continually keep personal records of experiences
6. all 7 learning outcomes have to be met
7. documentation online and in your CAS portfolio
8. reflections have to be connected to the chosen learning outcomes
9. 1 reflection per learning outcome has to be done
10. 3 CAS interviews have to be done with the CAS Coordinator
11. active engagement has to be fulfilled over 18 - 20 months
12. hand in the “Project Proposal Form” to your CAS Coordinator
CAS is not formally assessed, however you need to provide evidence from your overall CAS experience to show that you have achieved all of the following seven learning outcomes - you should aim for 2 or 3 learning outcomes per activity, as well as achieving each of these outcomes at least once over the 18 month period:
1 Identify your own strengths and develop areas for growth
2 Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process
3 Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience
4 Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences
5 Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively
6 Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance
7 Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions
Reflection forms the main body of evidence for achieving an outcome. But reflection does not just mean writing.
Here are some ideas for how to reflect:
• A student might take photographs while hiking and use these to reflect in writing.
• Two students could compose a song describing how they helped children.
• A student might dramatize a poem to capture a feeling of creative endeavour.
• A student could produce a short video summarizing a CAS experience.
• A group of students create a poster highlighting aspects of a shared experience.
A CASexperience: one or more of the three CAS strands.
Here are some examples:
• You plan a number of days of activities for a charity - this is a series of CAS experiences within the “Service" strand
• You found a group at ISI and regularly attend meetings and organize projects etc. This is a series of CAS experiences within the “Creativity” strand
• A group of you plan and stage a basketball/hockey/soccer tournament - this is a series of CAS experiences involving the strands of “Activity” and “Service”.
A balance of experiences across the three strands.
• Some may be easier for you to complete than others, so it is best to plan at the beginning of year 7 how you will adequately complete all the strands.
• You will also need to balance a combination of single and series of CAS experiences.
• You also need to ensure your participation in CAS lasts for 18 -20months.
Therefore:
1. create a plan to participate in some CAS experience for at least a couple of hours each week.
2. Sometimes, you will do more than this, for instance if you participate in a sports team, but there will be times you will do less - so plan ahead to ensure you can demonstrate commitment over the whole diploma programme!
A CAS project is a collaborative, well-considered series of sequential CAS experiences, engaging students in one or more of the CAS strands of creativity, activity, and service.
The primary purpose:
• to ensure participation in a sustained collaboration.
• challenges you to show initiative, demonstrate perseverance, and develop skills such as those of cooperation, problem-solving and decision-making.
• involves collaboration between a group of students or with members of the wider community.
• work out roles within your group - it's ok that not everyone is the leader for every part of the project!
CAS projects can focus on one strand or combine two or even all three strands.
A CAS project requires:
• a minimum duration of one month from planning to completion.
• CAS projects even longer than a month may be even better! If possible
Some examples of possible CAS Projects:
• Creativity: A group of students plan, design and create a mural.
• Service and Activity: Students organize and participate in a sports tournament, including training sessions and matches.
• Creativity, Service and Activity: Students rehearse and perform a dance production for a community Elder Care home/kindergarten/primary school.
An important thing to remember :
1. begin with at least one learning outcome
2. as you progress through the CAS project, you may add outcomes or modify them as appropriate.
Also important to remember:
• that if you chose to do a CAS project in the strand of Service it must take into account the opinions and expectations of others involved, while also focusing on meaningful and authentic needs.
• Thus, the service project needs to have a compelling benefit for all those involved, including the recipients of the service.
1
1+ month local
1,2 or 3 Strands
